PHOTO: Sen. Blakespear (center) presents Vista Mayor John Franklin (to her immediate right) a $2 million check for the City of Vista to use for the Buena Creek Navigation Center (building behind). Members of the Vista City Council, residents of the shelter, housing advocates and a friendly companion goat also attended the presentation. 
 

Today, Senator Thomas J. Umberg (D-Santa Ana), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced that Governor Gavin Newsom signed the final bills in Umberg’s 2026 legislative package, completing a slate of eight new laws. The measures protect voters at the polls, prevent dangerous chemical incidents, establish safeguards for A.I. in the legal system and strengthen consumer and public safety protections across California.

“For this report to have value, it must lead to significant changes in how our emergency management and public safety workers respond and coordinate."

Governor Newsom signs SB 949, formally recognizing the Santa Cruz Mountains as a landscape of statewide significance

The legislation would have created greater safeguards and disclosure when state and local law enforcement partner with federal or out-of-state law enforcement.

LAMONT, Calif. (October 1, 2026)— State Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Bakersfield) joined local leaders Thursday afternoon at Bear Mountain Park to celebrate $150,000 in state funding she secured for public safety improvements in Lamont.
The funding will support safety upgrades at Bear Mountain Park and other community facilities, including improved park lighting, mitigation of unsafe public pool facilities and the removal or rehabilitation of unsafe restroom facilities.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (October 1, 2026)— Three bills authored by Senator Melissa Hurtado (D-Bakersfield) as part of her 2026 Valley Taxpayers Protection Plan were signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom Wednesday, advancing a central piece of Hurtado’s effort to strengthen transparency, accountability and protections for taxpayer dollars.

 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
CONTACT
Giovanni Ruiz (323) 345-8273

I am pleased to announce that I have secured six key legislative victories that have been signed into law by Governor Newsom.

SACRAMENTO – Today, Senator Steve Padilla (D San Diego) issued the following statement after California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed Senate Bill 903, a measure designed to ensure that mental health services are safe, ethical, and conducted by trained professionals, not artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms. The bill would have prohibited AI algorithms from providing or advertising “therapy” and set standards for professional’s use of AI to promote human-centered care.